Huawei aims to carve out an ambitious 10% share in India's smartphone market

Despite being among the top players in the world, the Chinese smartphone company has struggled in IndiaET Bureau | August 18, 2016, 09:12 IST

Picture credits: ThinkStockChina’s Huawei is aiming to garner 10% share in India’s highly competitive smartphone market, on the back of its dual-brand strategy and special focus on the offline retail channel, having restructured its handset business. “We want to be a leader in the Indian market. India’s consumer business directly reports to China headquarters because of the importance of the market,” Peter Zhai, president of Huawei India Consumer Business Group, told ET. “With two smartphone brands, our first target is to reach 10% market share by the end of next year.”

He added that the device business group contribution is less in India at single digits, but the company is hoping to change that soon with its new aggressive strategy in a market, which is its second largest after China. The Shenzen-headquartered company will announce its domestic manufacturing plans within a month’s time, following permissions from authorities, Zhai said, without elaborating. It will also bring its entire handset portfolio to the Indian market, and will also launch India-specific handsets, which are being developed with the help of its local research and development centre.

The Huawei brand is a premium high-end brand with handset prices starting from Rs 25,000 and above, whereas its Honor brand comprises handsets that are priced as low as Rs 5,000. Despite being counted as among the top players in the world, Huawei has struggled in India, having just 0.5% share in the first half this calendar year, as compared to 0.9% last year, according to Counterpoint data.